Tai Tzu Ying, Lee Jhe-Huei/Lee Yang win French Open

Congratulations to Tai Tzu Ying for winning the 2017 French Open. (photo: CNA)

Paris: For the first time in the history of Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super Series, players from Chinese Taipei were able to win more than one title at the same Super Series tournament. Women’s singles No. 1 seed Tai Tzu Ying and men’s doubles No. 7 seeds Lee Jhe-Huei/Lee Yang did their country proud by winning the French Open on Sunday.

World No. 1 women’s singles player Tai Tzu Ying who was playing in her second tournament after sustaining a shoulder injury before the start of Japan Open that took place in September, showed flashes of her brilliance against No. 5 seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the final.

Tai got off to quick start in the first set, using her deception, razor-sharp smashes, and cross court returns to make Yamaguchi running all over the court before Tai parlayed the momentum into a commanding 21-4 first set win.

After taking the beating in the first set, Yamaguchi showed greater resilience in the second by starting the game with impressive net plays and baseline attacks. However, Tai got a grip on Yamaguchi’s playing style and went on to win her fourth Super Series title of the year by outlasting Yamaguchi 21-16 in the second set.

In men’s doubles final, Lee Jhe-Huei/Lee Yang played with dazzling offense and fast-court coverage, and were able to catch No. 2 seeds Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen of Denmark by surprise with their deceptively cross court net shots. Lee/Lee narrowly avoided to have to play in a decider by battling back to force a deuce in the second set.

The Taiwanese pair breathed a sigh of relief when Boe gave a high mid court return, and Lee Jhe-Huei was at the right position to kill the shuttlecocks and scored the championship point to win the men’s doubles title with 21-19, 23-21.

Korea’s women’s doubles pair of Lee So Hee and Shin Seung Chan, who had won last Sunday’s Denmark Open, couldn’t dish out another sensational performance on Sunday, going down to Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu of Indonesia 17-21, 15-21 in the French Open final.